My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils’ bats gets hot in the Chicago afternoon heat as they crush the Cubs, 9-1.

The Phils’ offense gets hot in the Chicago heat as they pound the Cubs into submission, 9-1.

The Phils took the lead in the first as, with two men on, and with one man out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI single, knocking in Michael Martinez, who had earlier hit an infield single, then stole second base, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead, while sending Chase Utley, who had earlier walked, on to third base. The Phils then made it a 2-0 lead as Shane Victorino hits an RBI ground out, 5-3, scoring Utley, while Howard would move up to second base. The Phils added to their lead in the second as. with a runner on second, and with two men out, Jimmy Rollins hit an RBI double, knocking in Worley, who had earlier doubled, giving the Phils a 3-0 lead. The Phils then took a 4-0 lead as Martinez hits an RBI single, knocking in Rollins. After Martinez stole second base, his second steal of the game, he scored on an RBI double by Utley, giving the Phils a 5-0 lead. The Phils then made it a 6-0 lead in the third as, with one man on, and with two men out, Brian Schneider hits an RBI double, knocking in Dom Brown, who had just walked. The Phils added to their lead in the fourth as, with a runner on second, and with one man out, Utley hits an RBI double, his second double of the ballgame, scoring Rollins, who had earlier reached first base on Carlos Pena’s fielding error before going to second on Pena’s throwing error to first. The Phils then made it an 8-0 lead in the sixth as, with one man out, Rollins hit a solo home run, his tenth home run of the season. The Phils then tried to increase their lead in the seventh as they loaded up the bases, via singles by Raul Ibanez and Brown, with Ibanez stopping at second base, and a walk to Schneider, moving both runners up a base, with two men out, before Worley ended the inning by grounding out, 3-1. The Cubs finally got on the scoreboard in their half of the seventh as they loaded up the bases, via a double by Aramis Ramirez, a walk by Pena, and a single by Marlon Byrd, sending Ramirez to third, and Pena up to second base, with no one out, as Geovany Soto hits into an RBI force out, 5-6-4, wiping out Byrd at second base for the inning’s first out, as Ramirez scored, making it an 8-1 Phils’ lead, while Pena would be safe at third, as Soto reached first base. Worley would then end the inning by getting Alfonso Soriano to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, wiping out Soto at second base. The Phils would get the run back in the eighth as Rollins hits a lead-off home run, his eleventh home run of the season, and his second home run of the game, as he hit the ball righthanded, after having earlier hit a home run from the left side, the second time that he has done it in his career (against the Reds, August 12, 2006) and the third Phil to do it (Steve Jeltz (1989), Tomas Perez (2001)), giving the Phils a 9-1 lead. That would be the final score as Ryan Madson came in and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

Vance Worley (6-1, 2.02) got the win as he pitched eight strong innings, giving up a run on four hits and two walks, as he struck out seven. Ryan Madson pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Ryan Dempster (7-7, 5.00) took the lost as he pitched three innings, giving up six runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out five. Ramos Ortiz pitched three innings, giving up two runs, one of which was earned, on two hits, as he struck out three. John Grabow went two innings, giving up a run on three hits and a walk, as he struck out two. Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

The Phils had twelve hits in the ballgame, with Jimmy Rollins leading the team with three hits, a double and two home runs, one hit from both side of the plate, as he knocked in three runs, as he raised his average to .277. Michael Martinez (Singles, RBI) and Chase Utley (Doubles, 2 RBIs) both followed with two hits each. Ryan Howard (Single, RBI), Raul Ibanez (Single), Dom Brown (Single), Brian Schneider (Double, RBI) and Vance Worley (Double) had the other five Phils’ hit. Shane Victorino knocked in the last Phil run with a ground out.

The Phils (61-36, 1st East) will have tomorrow off, before they come home for a ten-game home stand, starting with four against the Padres (42-55, T-4 West) this upcoming weekend.

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